Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Books and DVD's about the war in Iraq
The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein details U.S. foreign policy from its undermining of democracy in the Congo to Hurrican Katrina and Iraq.
Nemesis by Chalmers Johnson describes the effect on other countries of the U.S. policy of establishing airbases and golf-courses in every nation in the world.
A Solitary War by Heraldo Munoz describes the pressures the US put on other UN nations to get them to join its war in Iraq.
The Fall of the House of Bush by Craig Unger details the lies the Bush administration told the US public (and General Powell) to get them to endorse the war in Iraq.
The film, Control Room, shows how the U.S, military retaliated against the Al-Jazeera network for putting pictures of dead civilians and g.i's on the air. "It gives the wrong picture of the war," one general said.
Which reminds me: Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Good news for CEO wives
Welcome to Zimbabwe
Friday, September 19, 2008
Book Review: A Garden of Vipers
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
military takeover in 2011
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Bush's Contributions to the World Economy
o The economy's of China and Vietnam have known unprecedented growth.
o Though profits plummeted and thousands of minority youths were thrown out of work after the Taliban destroyed Afghanistan's poppy fields, prompt action on Bush's part restored heroin production, profits are up for Bush's campaign contributors, and urban youth can again make a living selling crack and smack on street corners and school yards.
o Realizing that cutting taxes for the rich would not be successful unless there were huge profits for the rich to avoid taxes on, Bush sent hundreds of thousands of troops to Iraq. Not only have contractors profited there in the absence of oversight, but the oil companies have profited in three different ways:
- The demand for oil has doubled due to the need to transport troops and equipment. This had led both to higher sales and higher profits per sale.
- Taxpayer-paid service men and contractors have replaced oil company personnel in guarding oil fields and pipe lines.
- To get US troops to leave, the Iraqii government has been forced to sign long-term contracts with the oil companies at ruinously low prices, thus ensuring that all profits on Iraqii oil will go to the oil companies.
o Deposits in Switzerland, the Cayman islands and other safe havens for excess profits have doubled.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Don't Blame the Manchurian Candidate
(Maybe Bush really was in the Air National Guard and got shot down over VietNam. How else to explain both Vietnam and China experiencing such never-before-seen prosperity as they have under Bush's leadership?)
Saturday, July 12, 2008
McCain and Keating fooled you once
Sunday, June 22, 2008
McCain the Manchurian Candidate
Even the American military are divided, some top officers believing that the threat posed by the Chinese can only result in still larger budgets and others who believe that things may already have gone too far and we can only lose such an encounter. Do the 35% of the U.S. population who remain Bush loyalists really want to serve as slaves when the Chinese arrive? Or do they picture themselves serving as overseers in a slave economy?
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Why The Media Demands A Single Candidate
But why? At least three answers underlie this latest dictate of the Media's bosses, an oligarchy of a few very rich men. Their reasons are not generally publicized, but a trip to the 13th floor and an insertion into the mind of one of the privileged few revealed all.
"Stop Edwards: Too often when the Democrats are divided, they've settled on a compromise candidate. Senator Edwards is no compromise. He's little more than a communist, an #$% robin hood, and he'll cost this country a fortune. (O.K., so all #$% politicians cost taxpayers a fortune; this latest #$% has left the U.S. bankrupt; but at least he left my off-shore accounts alone.)
" Trim costs: Having to send out two teams of reporters and cameramen is costing us a fortune. (Note to self for future reference: We could save even more if there were only a single party. We could cut back on our political donations, too.)
"Admittedly, we'll lose some money in the short run, since the audience for the Democratic convention will drop off to nothing. (Come to think of it, we don't actually get paid for showcasing those conventions, it's just another of those worthless public services we do to show our hearts are in the right place. Could we drop them from our schedule entirely?) But in the long run, once the public starts to ignore the conventions, we can get back to electing a candidate the way it ought to be done, in a room full of cigar smoke and good old boys."
Phillip Good, formerly known as #6 of the Berkeley Barb, is the author of Common Errors in Statistics (and How to Avoid Them).
Monday, April 21, 2008
Civil War in Ecuador?
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Boycott Beijing Sponsors
Send our athletes, but fans stay home.
Don't travel to China.
Avoid purchasing Chinese-made goods.
Don't purchase Samsung, Coca-Cola, Lenovo, or GE products.
Friday, April 04, 2008
What's the difference between Moslems and the U.S. Military?
In Iraq, there isn't any as far as women are concerned. See
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040908J.shtml
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040208N.shtml
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040408M.shtml
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/030308H.shtml
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031508Y.shtml
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Want a Job? Benefits? Join the Military
Read
The Volunteer Army: Who Fights and Why?
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/21201
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Why Kenya?
Monday, March 17, 2008
The Wages of Peace
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031708O.shtml
Robert Pollin and Heidi Garrett-Peltier write for The Nation: "The economic consequences of Iraq run even deeper than the squandered opportunities for vital public investments. Spending on Iraq is also a job killer. Every $1 billion spent on a combination of education, healthcare, energy conservation and infrastructure investments creates between 50 and 100 percent more jobs than the same money going to Iraq. Taking the 2007 Iraq budget of $138 billion, this means that upward of 1 million jobs were lost because the Bush Administration chose the Iraq sinkhole over public investment."